Screams of Silence: Story of Brenda Q.
Screams of Silence: Story of Brenda Q. is an episode of Family Guy. Synopsis Quagmire's sister Brenda and her boyfriend, Jeffery come to town. Plot When Peter and Joe return from a fishing trip with Quagmire was suspiciously absent, they check on him to find he tried to hang himself in auto-erotic asphyxiation. While Quagmire recovers from his "accident" at the hospital, his sister Brenda and her abusive boyfriend Jeff come to visit him. While Quagmire is unconscious, Brenda sings him a childhood nursery rhyme to help him recover causing him to wake up. Despite Jeff's complaints, Brenda agrees to take care of Glenn while he recovers. As the entire neighborhood is kept awake with Jeff's rants, Lois tries to talk to Brenda about leaving Jeff on a day out at a restaurant. When Brenda suspiciously continues to wear sunglasses inside the restaurant, Lois discovers Jeff gave her a black eye. Brenda tries to justify Jeff's treatment to Lois' disgust. At The Drunken Clam, the guys discuss Jeff and Brenda. Quagmire worries that some night Jeff may actually kill her but Joe claims he can't act until after the fact and suggests an intervention. Most of the intervention goes badly with Meg suggesting that Brenda change Jeff, Chris getting mad at Joe for calling him the wrong name and Peter changing the topic to smoking cigarettes, but Glenn makes a heartfelt plea and seems to have won over his sister until Jeff walks in. When Glenn tries to show Jeff the door, Jeff has Brenda announce that they're getting married because she's pregnant. Later that night over cards, Glenn continues to worry about Jeff's treatment of Brenda. When Joe comments that he wishes they could just beat him up, Glenn jumps on the suggestion and even recommends they kill him. Joe tries to put the brakes on the plot, but just then they witness Jeff ranting and striking Brenda and agree to waste him. The guys go over to Quagmire's house and invite Jeff on a midnight hunting trip. While in the woods, Jeff claims he is surprised that Quagmire would invite him as he knows Quagmire hates his guts. Peter nearly slips the plot and Jeff goes off to take a whiz. Quagmire picks up his gun and says he's determined to just shoot Jeff when he returns but Jeff slips up from behind and points his gun at Quagmire's head. After ranting at Glenn, he smacks him to the ground. Joe reaches for his shotgun, but Jeff threatens to shoot Quagmire in the back of the head. Joe is momentarily stunned when he suggests they all put the weapons down and Jeff complies. When Jeff asks if they will also follow though on Joe's promise to forget the entire thing, they agree but Quagmire refuses to let it go. Jeff knocks Peter and Joe unconscious with the butt of his shotgun and takes Peter's car with Glenn out deeper into the woods intending to kill Quagmire. Glenn challenges Jeff's manhood, saying he has to shoot someone and Jeff agrees readily to do the job with his fists. Jeff beats Glenn senseless and then proceeds to strangle him until he collapses. Jeff grabs a shovel to bury the body only to be illuminated by the car's headlights. When Jeff is surprised that Glenn is still alive, Glenn shouts that he strangles himself everyday and runs down Jeff, crushing him against a tree. When then guys arrive back at the house the next morning, they find Brenda in tears over Jeff's failure to return. They give her a note they faked explaining that Jeff thought it would be best if he left. As Brenda breaks down in tears over Jeff, Peter notes that he wishes he could kill someone else and gets an idea about Mort Goldman. Characters Major Roles *Peter Griffin *Lois Griffin *Chris Griffin *Meg Griffin *Stewie Griffin *Brian Griffin *Glenn Quagmire *Joe Swanson *Brenda Quagmire *Jeffery Fecalman Minor Roles *Dr. Hartman *Bonnie Swanson *Susie Swanson *Jay Leno *Rickey Minor *Santos (Mentioned) *Pasquel (Mentioned) *Consuela De La Morrela (Mentioned) *Crystal Quagmire (Mentioned) *Cleveland Brown (Mentioned) *Mort Goldman (Mentioned) Quotes :Peter: I love fishing. :Lois: Since when do you love fishing. :Peter: What are you talking about? Remember when I worked as a fisherman for two years? :Lois: No. :Peter: Seriously? It was a traumatic incident! You thought I died when I got lost at sea! :Lois: Why would I remember that? :Peter: Really? sigh Don't you remember Santos and Pasquel? :Lois: Not even a little. :Peter: They were like male Consuelas only they were Portugese. :Lois: No idea who they are. :Chris: What even is a Portugese anyway? :Meg: I think he's talking about our across the street neighbors. :the window two geese are shown, sitting on the front porch, at a [[Brown House|house] across the street] :Goose #1: This is nice. :Goose #2: Yeah, I like it out here. ---- :Dr. Hartman: Well, Ms. Quagmire, your brother, Glenn is lucky to be alive. You know, we're all lucky to be alive on such a beautiful day. In fact, nurse, all surgeries are outside today. ---- :Brenda: singing Glenn don't die from auto erotic asphyxiation. Your friends wanna go fishing with you. :Brian: This song is from childhood? :Brenda: singing Live to see tomorrow, October 31st, 2011. ---- :Peter: Aw, that yellow lab looks like she's dying. :Lois: Peter, that's Gwyneth Paltrow, she's fine. ---- :Lois: Trying to get a straight answer out of a 23-year-old girl is complicated. :to a guy trying to get a straight answer out of a 23-year-old girl :Guy: So, do you wanna go out sometime? :Girl: Out like go out or hang out or just do something? :Guy: Like a date. :Girl: Like a date date or like a date? :Guy: confused Both I ... I guess. :Girl: Yeah, no, but sure, maybe, probably not though, I don't know. :Guy: confused Uh, is that a "Yes"? :Girl: Yeah, I guess not, but whatever, yes, no, maybe, I don't know, can you repeat the question? :Guy: confused I said- :Girl: Here's the first three digits of my phone number, E-mail me. ---- :Joe: If I were you, I'd set up an intervention. :Peter: What's that? :Joe: It's like a surprise birthday party, but instead of cake and presents, there's angry letters and someone who inappropriately tries to make it about themselves. :Quagmire: That's not a bad idea. :Peter: happy Yeah, I bet I would really shine at one of those! ---- :Joe: Brenda. This is an intervention. A lot of us don't like how Jeff's been treating you, so- :Jeffrey: What? Me? Hey, what's wrong with how I treat my girlfriend? :Brenda: Yeah, he's a nice guy. What is this? :Joe: Now, hold on. We're gunna say a few things and then you'll say a few things and then we'll be done. Sound good? :Brenda: Um, I guess. :Jeffrey: Yeah, I hope this goes well. I don't know what this is about, but I'll gladly change the way I'm acting if there's really anything wrong with it, because I truly love my girlfriend and there's nothing I would ever want to do to hurt her. :Stewie: You are so full of shit. ---- :Joe: Alright, so we're gunna go around the room and tell you exactly how your situation has affected each of us. Meg? :Meg: I feel like if he likes you, maybe you can change him. :Joe: Okay, maybe she wasn't the one to start with. ---- :Joe: Caleb? :entire room is silent :Joe: Caleb, you wanna go ahead? :looks around, wondering who he's talking about :Joe: Caleb, I'm talking to you. :beat :Chris: M ... Me? :Joe: Yeah, no need to be afraid. This is a safe space. Go ahead. :Chris: Uh, ... It's Chris! You don't know my name? :Joe: Alright, this isn't off to a flying start. ---- :Joe: Peter, why don't you go ahead? :Peter: So, you like beating your girlfriend, huh? Well, why don't you smoke a whole carton of cigarettes!? ---- :Quagmire: Please, I'd-I'd-I'd like to say something if I may. :Jeffrey: Look, I'm not gunna sit here and be bastardized by- :Quagmire: Shut up! This isn't for you! calm This, ... This is for Brenda. :Brenda: Oh. :Quagmire: ahem Brenda, ... the fact that you are being abused has affected my life in the following ways: The sister that I knew and loved, growing up no longer exists. The person I see before me now is just a punching bag ... and I call you "person" and not woman, because a woman is a strong, beautiful, vibrant creature, who is in complete control over her own decisions. A woman embraces life and respects herself to the absolute fullest. A woman makes choices to make her life better. Sadly, the fact that you are with Jeff proves to me that you have made a choice to make your life worse. up I-I want ... I want the girl I grew up with back. I want ... I-I want my sister back. Brenda, I love you. Please make the right decision. :Peter: Which is a perfect time for me to tell my jokes. :Lois: Peter! :Peter: And I will save them for the end. ---- :Joe: It's against the law, Quagmire, and that's the end of it. :is heard screaming offscreen; The Beer Bar Buddies rush over to the window to see the silhouettes of Jeff abusing Brenda though the window of Quagmire's house :Jeffrey: WHAT THE HELL!? DID YOU CHANGE THE CHANNEL, WHILE I WAS GOING TO GET A BEER!? :Brenda: Oh, yeah, I-I'm sorry, honey. I just wanted to see who was on Letterman. :Jeffrey: WE'RE WATCHING LENO, YOU BITCH! Brenda :Brenda: I'm so sorry! :Jeffrey: HIS SOFT GENTLE HUMOR CONNECTS EFFORTLESSLY WITH MY MAINSTREAM SENSIBILITIES! Brenda on the floor and kicks her YOU STUPID FUCKING CUNT! :Joe: intently Let's waste this dick. ---- :Jay Leno: Boy, everything's different now, than it used to be, isn't it? You know, thi-This morning, I had a bowl of fruity pebbles cereal. Yeah, yeah, when I was a kid, they were boulders. :Jeffrey: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :Rickey Minor: Uh-hee hee hee hee hee. Cereals do change, man. :Jay Leno: Yeah, you know, I hope I'm not dating myself here, but when I was a kid, I got a box of Fruity Pebbles autographed by Fred Flintstone, himself. :Jeffrey: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :Rickey Minor: Eh-heh heh heh heh heh! Now you see, the joke there, is that he's implying that he's so old, that he was a child during the prehistoric ages. Because ... Because Fred Flintstone is a caveman and cavemen lived in the prehistoric age, and he met one in person. So, that's ... that's a jab at how old he is. I mean, not really. You know, nobody's really that old in real life, but it's just ... It's funny because it's an exaggeration, you know, man. :Jay Leno: Oh, now here's something. Here's something. Y-You hear about this? Here's a bunch of words in a row: Because the economy's so bad, they've decided they're gunna shut down all the prisons, ... yeah, ... yeah, and-and they're gunna send all the inmates to congress! :Jeffrey: I DON'T GET THAT ONE! RAAAAAAGH! Brenda :Rickey Minor: offscreen Well, here Jeffrey, don't beat yo girl. Let me explain it. :Jeffrey: Brenda repeatedly I DON'T GET THE JOKE AND NOW I'M TAKING IT OUT ON YOU FOR SOME REASON! :shoves Brenda off the couch :Rickey Minor: offscreen Ohhh, shit. That must've hurt. :Beer Bar Buddies enter :Quagmire: Hi there, Jeff. :Rickey Minor: offscreen Aw, yeah. Here come the heroes of this story. :Jeffrey: Hey, what's going on, dudes? Brenda just fell. :Rickey Minor: offscreen She didn't fall, man. You pushed her ass. :Jeffrey: You okay, babe? Here, let me help you up. whispering to Brenda Get your lazy ass up and get my neighbors some beers. her into the kitchen Alright, there she goes. :Joe: Actually, we don't have time, Jeff. We were just about to go on our annual midnight hunting trip. We thought you might wanna join us. :Jeffrey: Ah, what the hell. Sure. :Rickey Minor: offscreen Aw, shit they gon' kill you man. :Peter: Yeah, it beats sitting at home, watching Meg pop her zits. :to Meg popping her zit, which launches her against the wall :Jeffrey: Alright, let's go hunting, then. Brenda, you cool here at home alone? :Brenda: Yeah, ... I'll be fine. You boys have fun. :Jeffrey: Alright then. A hunting we will go! :guys leave and Brenda stands there, with Leno still on :Rickey Minor: Man, whatever happened to my boy, Cleveland. I miss him. ---- :Jeffrey: You know, Quagmire, I gotta say, I was pretty surprised you wanted me to come along. I thought you didn't like me. :Quagmire: Oh-ho-ho, come on, Jeff. I don't hate your fucking guts. :Peter: Well then what the hell are we doing out here? I thought we were gunna kill hi- :Joe: AAAAAAAH!!! SO, JEFF, DO YOU LIKE LOUD SENTENCES!? ---- :holds Quagmire at gunpoint and Joe reaches for his gun; Jeff spots him :Jeffrey: UH-UH! NOT UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR FRIEND'S BRAINS ALL OVER THE PLACE! :Joe: Listen, Jeff, just put the gun down and we'll forget this whole thing. Okay? :puts the gun down :Joe: ... Oh, ... well that's never happened before ... Kinda don't know what to do next. :Jeffrey: SO, NOW YOU'LL FORGET THE WHOLE THING!? :Joe: Yeah, ... I ... guess that is what I said. :Quagmire: No! No, we can't forget the whole thing! :Peter: Yeah, you know, he's right. We can't forget it. ---- :Jeffrey: Well, Quagmire. Sorry it had to end this way. A tragic hunting accident. I guess that little baby's gunna grow up without an uncle! :Quagmire: Actually, I have a brother, Gary Quagmire. :Jeffrey: Oh. :Quagmire: I think-I think you've got a brother too, don't you? :Jeffrey: ALRIGHT, FORGET THE UNCLE THING! ---- :is seen alive in the car, when Jeffrey is digging a hole for him :Jeffrey: WHAT THE HELL!? I KILLED YOU! :Quagmire: I choke myself every day, you bastard. ---- :Brenda: the forged letter P.P.S. I really love, Grape Ape. The end. ---- :Peter: I kinda wanna kill somebody else now ... Ooh, Mort! Trivia *The topic of domestic violence is handled poorly in this episode. So much so, that this episode has received extreme negative backlash from fans, deeming this episode as being not only inaccurate but also unfunny and poorly-written. For starters, they had a bad message about how if you're in an abusive relationship, you should stay in it until it gets better and also, they had the abuser act very obvious, to the point where he even abused his girlfriend in public, which is not the case for real abusive relationships. *A large portion of scenes of this episode were deleted and later redone. The deleted scenes feature characters knowing from the very start that Jeffery abuses his girlfriend as well as scenes of him acting blatantly abusive to his girlfriend in public. These were changed to make Jeffrey's abuse toward Brenda more subtle to both the characters and the audience, which greatly helped improve the episode's writing. Not only did this make the plot better because we don't know from the start that Jeffrey is abusive until the plot twist but it also made the domestic abuse more realistic, portraying abusive relationships in a way that emulates real-life abusive relationships. In real life, abusers do not openly abuse their victims in public, nor do they act violent and abrasive in public. Rather, they put on a facade in front of other people, to make themselves look like regular people and only show their dark side in private, when nobody else is around. The redone scenes also give Jeffrey more personality, turning him into a two-faced twist villain, rather than a generic, one-dimensional strawman villain of domestic abusers. Fans really preferred the redone version of the episode, saying that this new writing really helped improve the plot and message a lot. *Peter describes Santos and Pasquel as "male Consuela's". *Two geese move into Cleveand's old house for a brief gag. *This episode introduces a few new family members of Quagmire's family, including his younger sister, Brenda Quagmire and her fiance, Jeffery Fecalman. Additionally, Quagmire mentions having a brother named "Gary Quagmire", though he is never seen. **It can also be noted that Quagmire's mom and Brenda's then-unborn child were mentioned in dialogue, before they made their respective debuts in the future episodes, "Quagmire's Mom" and "Road to the North Pole". *Joe forgets Chris' name, believing it is "Caleb". *Peter gets the idea to kill Mort at the end of the episode. *Brian and Stewie each have only one line in this episode. **Stewie has two lines, if you count the deleted scene where Stewie chastises the family for not saying "Good Morning" to him. Cultural References *Dr. Hartman's "We are all lucky to be alive on a beautiful day." is a reference to the 1988 film Grave of the Fireflies. *While being indecisive, the 23-year-old girl waxes the lyrics of the theme song to Malcolm in the Middle, saying "Yes, no, maybe, I don't know, can you repeat the question?" *Jeff's line "I'm not done drawing you yet!" is a reference to the film, As Good As It Gets. *Jeff beats Brenda for turning to The Late Show with David Letterman. *The forged letter mentions the Hanna-Barbera character Grape Ape. Continuity *The song "Iraq Lobster" is a callback to "Rock Lobster" from "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire". *Peter shoves a box of cigarettes into Brenda's face, while saying "..well, have a whole carton of cigarettes!", which he also does in "Trading Places". This gag is later used in the "Chap of the Manor" segment in "Family Guy Viewer Mail #2". *Peter mentions his fisherman career to Lois. She however doesn't remember it despite the fact there was a traumatizing incident where she believed he was killed in a storm, in "The Perfect Castaway". *Quagmire's deaf brother, now named as Gary Quagmire, was again mentioned. The first time was in "Jerome Is the New Black". *Quagmire mentions he bought a new cat. This is a callback to "420" which he had a cat named James, who Peter killed. *Peter doesn't know what an intervention is even though the Griffin family once staged an intervention for Brian's cocaine addiction in "The Thin White Line" and his own giant hat addiction in "Brian in Love". Deleted Scenes *Stewie making a passive aggressive comment about his family not saying "good morning". *Alternate take on the "Portugese" joke, which includes Peter breaking the fourth wall to explain it. *Peter asking Joe to dinner. *Peter and Joe watching the rest of the clown porn. *Scenes with Jeffrey and Brenda in public, where Jeffrey is still abusive to Brenda, even when other people are watching. These were redone to make him act like a nice guy in public only to be evil when he's alone with her: **Lois and Peter proving that they know Jeffrey beats Brenda. **Jeffrey insulting Brenda in the parking lot and telling her to pretend she's handicapped. **Jeffrey insulting the way Brenda sings and getting Peter on board with it. **Jeff accusing Quagmire of trying to steal his girlfriend and then dragging the latter out of the room. **Jeffrey getting mad at Brenda for insisting they stay at Quagmire's house. **Jeffrey pushing Brenda into the kitchen and beating her up. **Lois talking to Peter about how unpleasant things were with Jeff and Brenda. **Joe saying that he can't arrest Jeff until Brenda files a complaint. This is later edited so that Joe says that he didn't see the abuse and there is no evidence, so he can't step in to do anything. *A couple scenes where Jeff abused Brenda were moved up to later in the episode, making the reveal of Jeff being abusive happen when Brenda took her glasses off at the restaurant: **Quagmire restlessly trying to sleep as he hears Jeff and Brenda upstairs. **Quagmire telling Peter and Lois about how abusive Jeff is. **Some of the dialogue from when Jeff abused Brenda in the kitchen from earlier was recycled for later scenes. *Quagmire complaining that Jeff and Brenda are always giving him mixed messages about entertainment. *The intervention being held at Peter's house instead of Quagmire's house. *Lois explaining the intervention before Brenda and Jeff walk in. *Also, in this alternate scene, Jeff is not present and the intervention is only for Brenda. *Jeffrey entering after the intervention and threatening Brenda for money. *Peter suggesting abusive names for Jeff and Brenda's baby. *Peter noticing the hilarity of Jeffrey's last name. *Cutaway about soliciting a rooster. *Jeffrey yelling at Brenda to get some beers for his friends. In the redone version, he clenches her arm and crudely whispers it in her ear. *Dialogue trimming of Jeff talking about how he likes hunting. *Peter playing "Would You Rather?" with Jeff and The Beer Bar Buddies. *Peter not raising his arms all the way and Jeff pestering him about it. *Jeff allowing Peter to raise his arms shorter so he can hide his belly. *Brenda reading some extra P.S. stuff on Jeff's forged suicide note. Category:Episodes Category:Season 10 Category:Quagmire Episodes Category:Controversial Episodes Category:Poorly-Received Episodes